I really enjoyed Apex when it came out, it felt like it had a lot of potential and a universe ripe with content to explore.

Then at some point they decided that all we needed was more skins to spend money on.

And appallingly it seems they were right.

The workshop is an interesting topic and one if like to see a larger discussion around - theoretically people are free to upload their workshop content outside of Steam altogether, but arguably it’s on developers to support importing non-workshop content.

Censorship is definitely something that needs sorting out. I hadn’t heard of much censorship going on but I can definitely see it happening, giv n Japan’s standards can differentiate massively from America’s. Clear rules need to be laid, and I hope clear reasons are given when it occurs.

It got added when they moved from Greenlight to the current system IIRC.

Double checked and it’s called the “Steam Direct fee”, is $100 (+ potential taxes) and you get it back when the game makes $1,000 “Adjusted Gross Revenue”.

I’m with you on all of this. I’m familiar with this (am a game dev) and you’re 100% right that the biggest cost is game distribution. One thing though: it costs ~$100 to list a game on Steam, which is returned to you after it’s made a thousand or two.

Honestly there’s nothing much valve can do to appease people, but I believe the most likely thing they can do is release data on how much distribution costs and give companies the ability to disable the “extra stuff” to save even a few percent of their revenue.

That’s on developers for not putting their games on other platforms, Valve do not prevent you from doing so. If they went crazy tomorrow, people can just jump ship.

I swear the only games that could never be on another store would be Valve’s own. It’s really not their fault that other platforms are so bad or niche.

Like realistically what should they do to not be seen as gatekeepers? Become worse to scare developers and customers onto other platforms?

I love playing “will the train be cancelled today?” every morning. Luckily covid’s WFH revolution means I have a plan b, but for people who have to go in every day… I pity them.

Are they gatekeepers though? It’s not like they own Windows or Linux and stop you from using any other store. Just having the biggest audience doesn’t make them gatekeepers to the market.

I never see people talking about what valve should change other than lowering the 30% cut, but arbitrarily forcing that would set a bad precedent.

Instead of virtue signalling here’s reasonable things Valve could do:

• allow developers to chose what features of steam they use for each game, allowing them to lower the cut by individually opting out of forums, workshop, cloud saves, achievements, inventory items etc
• offer a purchase = one time download with no drm (still legally one copy) for the closest thing to “owning” a digital game
• allow someone to inherit a steam account

Someone correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure proton is free to use and you can install stores and games not from steam on a Steam Deck, so again I really don’t know what they’re gatekeeping.

Of all the reasons to hate these messaging apps, it’s because messages last forever? I’d get it if you were concerned that private companies don’t really delete your messages, but you know the average person using these apps actually does want their messages to last?

Deceive Inc. is such a good game. Charming characters and an art style that really immerses you in a fun way. They learnt a lesson really quickly that’s taken so many other games years to get right - buff the weaker, less fun stuff rather than nerfing the fun, overused things.

It’s just a shame that the multiplayer only market is so saturated at the moment with games trying to monopolise your attention. To even get people to try it is difficult due to the entry cost - which is a fair £17.

Nope. The models have stayed the same from X&Y to Sword and Shield. Only in Scarlet and Violet have they been given an upgrade.

Not a silly question! The answer is technically yes, but not really.

Considering there are still sites that store plaintext passwords, there has to be some that just hash it and call it a day. For those, once you crack the hash, you know everyone with the same hash has the same password. Any real site does some more complex stuff to “personalise” each hashed password.

The real issue is when you reuse the password and it gets cracked once, people will try that with your email for other leaks and live sites. If a lot of people use the same password (like “password123”), they’re likely to try it as one of the first guesses to crack any new leaks.

I’m oversimplifying my already oversimplified knowledge of basic cryptography, but it’s a really interesting topic!

Is it confidence among buyers, or confidence among sellers? Don’t try and make it sound like we’re happy to be paying tens of thousands more!

Man I love Sun Haven! I definitely feel more involved in tending to my crops by using magic than setting up a sprinkler system. Co-op made for a really cute time.

Part of me wished the story was a little bit more than just an excuse to get you new farms but wouldn’t want to ruin the tone haha.

HOLY SHIT you have no idea how long I have been trying to remember this game. A cousin showed it to me when I was young and I loved it. Next time I saw him he’d forgotten, and I never could find it when I finally got a PC!

I can’t believe it’s been under my nose this whole time (Paladins fan) and it makes complete sense. Thank you for unlocking a core memory 🙏

Game mechanics can be patented. It’s stupid, but things such as “loading screen mini games” and “overhead arrows pointing to your objective” have been patented. The second I believe even got enforced once.

I think these kind of things have been getting approved less and less, but I wouldn’t be surprised if “balls that contain monsters” was patented back in the early days too.

People whose views align with nutjobs think that everyone else is being dramatic.

Don’t forget about moderation. It’s all fun and games until someone starts posting hate speech, copyrighted material, porn (legal or otherwise) or worse…

It’s been over £10 everywhere I’ve been for many years. Just can’t justify it anymore, especially when they skimp out on the chips ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

The guy wasn’t talking about vaping though, but smoking. The one we know for sure gives you a ton of issues and health problems.

Whilst I agree it’s not a great analogy for right wing beliefs, I’d say it works as a good analogy for incel behaviour. I knew a guy who had fallen into that trap but managed to find his way out. When I asked him about it, he said it helped him cope, that it was easier to believe that it wasn’t his fault things were so shitty.

I really respect how he was able to realise that the things he and the people around him were saying was bullshit, and it made me realise that a lot of these people are being taken advantage of by “influencers” spewing this harmful rhetoric.

better cuts for devs upper management